Category: One Day

Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have made a comeback to India’s 15 man ODI squad for the South Africa series that was announced earlier today. The trio had missed the recently concluded tour of New Zealand, which the visitors lost 3-0, due to injury.

This is the first Indian squad to be selected by the country’s new selection committee, headed by Sunil Joshi.

What changes have India made from the NZ ODI series for the South Africa games?

Rohit Sharma is injured- he has not fully recovered from the calf injury he suffered during the fifth T20I against New Zealand, but Shikhar Dhawan, as mentioned above, has returned. Mayank Agarwal, who replaced Sharma in NZ, is not part of the 15, with Shubman Gill included in the side.

A fine century from Heinrich Klaasen, the first of his ODI career, helped South Africa stun Australia in the first ODI in Paarl. The Proteas, thrashed in the T20 series, prevailed by 74 runs against Aaron Finch’s men at EuroLux Boland Park.

Here are our talking points from the game.

A maiden ODI century for Heinrich Klaasen: The Titans star has shown plenty of promise, but unfortunately not quite lived up to it after that knock vs India two years ago. However being dropped from South Africa’s World Cup squad seems to have given him a wake-up call, and he played a fine innings here at Boland Park.

Klaasen scored 123* from 114, the only top six batsman on either side to score at over a run a ball, and his 149 run partnership with David Miller was a Proteas record for the fifth wicket against Australia.

KL Rahul’s impressive knock of 112 went in vain as India fell to a five wicket defeat in the third and final ODI in Mount Maunganui on Tuesday. The result saw hosts New Zealand take the series 3-0- the first time in over 30 years that India have lost all the games of a bilateral ODI series.

A fine all round performance from Kyle Jamieson and an excellent half century from the in-form Ross Taylor helped New Zealand beat India by 22 runs at Eden Park and seal the ODI series. Here are our talking points from the game.

Kyle Jamieson stars on debut: Brought into the XI due to Scott Kuggeleijn’s illness, the lanky pacer had a dream ODI debut. Coming in at No.10, his 25* (24) helped New Zealand recover from 197/8 to post a competitive total of 273. Jamieson and Taylor added 76 runs in 51 balls and their partnership swung momentum the Black Caps’ way after India had fought back in the middle stages.

Jamieson was also influential with the ball- he took out Prithvi Shaw, who scored only boundaries in his knock of 24, including three off the first four deliveries of the innings, and later returned to rattle the stumps of Navdeep Saini, who was threatening to pull off an unlikely win for India in the company of Ravi Jadeja.

Quinton de Kock’s first game as South Africa’s new ODI skipper saw the Proteas crush world champions England by seven wickets at Newlands. De Kock’s century, his 15th for South Africa, and his 173 run partnership with Temba Bavuma helped the visitors chase down 259 with nearly two and a half overs to spare.

Here are our talking points from the fixture in Cape Town.

Everything goes right for Quinton de Kock: QdK could perhaps not have asked for a better start to his reign as ODI captain. He won the toss, something Faf du Plessis was unable to do in seven tests against England and India, and his decision to bowl first was justified as England were restricted to 258/8. Even his field placements and bowling changes worked a treat as the visitors struggled to build any real sort of momentum.

The Proteas were perhaps a batter short and had a longish tail with Beuran Hendricks scheduled to come in at 8, but de Kock and Bavuma’s impressive knocks ensured that the lower order was not called into action.

JJ Smuts impressive on debut: It was Smuts’ bowling, rather than batting, that probably secured his place in the XI- the Proteas were desperate for a top six batsman that could bowl. He claimed the dangerous looking Jason Roy early in the innings, and finished with 1/43 in his 10 overs.

Smuts’ selection allowed South Africa the luxury of a second spinner on a wicket that was slow, and if he continues in this vein, he might well find himself on the plane to India in three years’ time.

England probably a spinner short on this wicket, and Denly/Root, serviceable as they may be as bowlers, simply not in the same league as Smuts

JJ/ Batsman who can bowl decent overs of spin (Markram?) could have a massive role to play in India in 2023. #sscricket#SAvENG#Proteas

Shreyas Iyer’s maiden hundred went in vain as India went down to New Zealand in the first one day international at Seddon Park on Wednesday. The Black Caps had chased down 347 at this very venue against Australia 13 years ago, and produced an encore to stun Virat Kohli’s men this time around in Hamilton. Continue reading “India vs New Zealand First ODI Match Report Hamilton 2020”

Here are the Indian squads for the upcoming T20 and one day series against New Zealand. Left handed batsman Shikhar Dhawan was originally named in both squads, but was ruled out due to a shoulder injury that he picked up during the third and the final ODI against Australia in Bengaluru

A fine 119 from Rohit Sharma, the 29th century of his ODI career, helped India chase down 287 in Bangalore and register a come from behind 2-1 series victory over Australia.

The hosts were a batsman short after Shikhar Dhawan injured his shoulder while fielding, but Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli’s 146 run stand put those worries to rest as Ravi Shastri’s men cruised to victory on a good Chinnaswamy batting wicket.

India were unchanged for this clash, retaining the same XI that had done the business in Rajkot, while Australia brought in Josh Hazlewood for Kane Richardson. Opposition skipper Aaron Finch won his third consecutive toss of the series and opted to bat first this time around.

Here are our talking points from the game.

Off day for Pat Cummins and Mitch Starc: Australia opted to strengthen their bowling by including Josh Hazlewood for Kane Richardson. While Hazlewood did his job- he was absolutely miserly in his first five overs, going for just ten runs, Cummins and Starc had a bad day at the office.

Cummins went for 64 in his 7 overs, while Starc finished with figures of 0/66 in his 9. Their poor lines and lengths ensured that the pressure built by Hazlewood at one end was always released at the other, and even worse, they didn’t take even a single wicket between them.

You cannot afford two of your strike bowlers to have an off day while defending a under par total on a good batting wicket, and that unfortunately, is exactly what happened to Aaron Finch’s men.

Australia brought in Hazlewood for Kane Richardson to strengthen their bowling. Josh has done an excellent job, but Cummins and Starc, usually so good, have let 🇦🇺 down today. Need every bowler to do well when you're defending a sub 300 total v 🇮🇳 on this wicket! #INDvAUS#Hitman

Rohit Sharma scores 29th ODI century: Sharma’s 119 was the backbone of India’s chase. With regularly opening partner Shikhar Dhawan not available, he found the boundary regularly in the opening overs to ensure that pressure didn’t build on KL Rahul and Virat Kohli. The MI star hit a whopping 6 sixes in his knock- the rest of the batsmen (Indian and Australian) only managed 3 between them.

Sharma overtook Sanath Jayasuriya in the ODI centurions list and is now only one behind legendary Australian Ricky Ponting.

Australia miss Maxwell and Stoinis’ firepower: While Steve Smith held one end up, Australia’s inexperienced middle order missed the firepower of Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis. They were 173/2 in the 32nd over when Marnus Labuschagne fell, and looked well on course for a total of 310-320. However with Agar batting at 7 and Ashton Turner nowhere near the player who stunned the Mohali crowd last year, they ended up limping to 286 instead- a total that was never enough on this batting surface.

An excellent 52 ball 80 from KL Rahul and fine half centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli helped India level the three match ODI series in Rajkot on Friday.

Australia opted to keep faith with the same XI that had done the job in Mumbai, while India made two changes by including Navdeep Saini for Shardul Thakur and Manish Pandey for the concussed Rishabh Pant.

Here are our talking points from the game at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

1. KL Rahul excellent

Twice in the middle stages of this game, India appeared to be in danger of losing their way- first when Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer fell in quick succession, and the other when Kohli and Manish Pandey fell within six balls of each other. However Rahul’s fluent 80 ensured that India did not waste the start that had been given to their openers. His quickfire innings was perhaps the difference between a score of 310-320 and the 340 that the hosts eventually got. Not only did the Karnataka star excel after coming into bat at No 5, but he also did a fine job behind the wickets, standing in for the unavailable Pant. He also effected a vital stumping to get rid of Mumbai centurion Aaron Finch.

An unbeaten 258 run opening stand- a record partnership for any wicket against India saw Australia annihilate the hosts by 10 wickets in the first one day international at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The visitors gave Marnus Labuschagne his debut, but the South African born batting sensation had very little to do as Aaron Finch and David Warner flattened the hosts and finished the chase with 74 balls to spare.

Here are our talking points from yesterday’s fixture.

1. Kohli’s decision to demote himself to No 4 backfires

As he had hinted in the pre-match press conference, Indian skipper Virat Kohli dropped himself to No 4 to accommodate Lokesh Rahul in the playing XI. The move didn’t quite come off- Kohli, arguably the team’s best batsman, only arrived at the crease in the 28th over and made only 16. It also seemed to mess with the heads of the batsmen below him in the order- Shreyas Iyer made only 4, while Rishabh Pant had to cover his natural attacking instincts in order to ensure that India got to a respectable total. The home side slipped from 134/1 to 164 for 5 and lost their way in the middle stages.

2. Finch again demonstrates batting prowess against India

Since October 2013, there have only been five opening stands of 100 or greater from a visiting team against India in India- Aaron Finch has been involved in everyone of them. It was almost a perfect day for him at the office- he won the toss, the much vaunted Indian batting line up failed to fire, his bowling changes were spot on and Australia romped home with 10 wickets to spare.

3. Records galore for Warner and Finch

As mentioned above, this partnership was the highest by any pair in ODI cricket against India. It was also the first time since 2005 that the hosts had suffered a 10 wicket defeat- the first in Kohli’s tenure as captain. Warner also reached the 5000 run milestone- the fastest Australian to the landmark, and fourth fastest to it after Hashim Amla, Viv Richards and Kohli.